Darius Supreme

Just because they were technically suppressed by the Equality Faction didn't mean that the Superiority Faction were struggling per se. They had their strengths that the Equality Faction could not match, especially in the form of higher-quality goods imported into Andrato and sold through their shops.

To give a suitable comparison, the Equality Faction had higher military and political power in Andrato, but the Superiority Faction had the best foreign relations and financial power, leading to a tense stalemate of sorts.

They had a well-known chain store manned by the House of Polivar, which was the one Darius was about to enter with Gunner. He knew that if he wanted quality items that could function better than mere steel, he had to come here.

Of course, in the capital, it was possible to get better gear from many different places, but in towns this far out, only their Treasure House could satisfy his needs. Despite knowing that it belonged to the Superiority Faction, Darius could easily feign ignorance to the Equality Faction as he was not a native.

It wasn't like any shops officially announced their allegiance. Still, because he liked to fill in gaps of his information and know the world around him, he had been reading up and researching extensively.

The Treasure House was quite tall, about 3 stories in total. A ground floor, first floor, and second floor. The building was painted with a dark green color with the logo of the chain store embedded into the wood above the door frame.

The double doors were opened wide for any customer to enter at will, and the traffic within the shop was greater than any other. Most of those who passed through were either nobles or first-class citizens, merchants and Intermediate Adventurers or above.

These people were here to acquire weapons, armor, or trinkets of power, something they wouldn't find in an average blacksmith's shop. Once Darius entered, he noticed that most customers were left to their own devices and were only monitored closely by some tough-looking guards.

There were no clerks around the store to assist buyers with their purchase, making Darius click his tongue. Such an oppressive and unfavorable selling environment and yet still so popular.

'Is it because it's located at the market square or because the Polivar Treasure House's reputation for quality is so strong that they don't need care about pandering to buyers?'

Definitely both, Darius reasoned. After all, being in the market square might guarantee traffic, but it wouldn't allow you to get away with everything. Also, having quality goods would definitely make buyers more tolerant of nonsense, but to a limit.

On their own, neither factor stood enough to create this scenario, so it had to be a mixture of both. Well, at least, Darius knew that whoever manned these stores had some business acumen that was not backward.

He and Gunner browsed through the wares. Gunner only had the system's basic Inspect mechanic, but Darius could Analyze various items he came across. He saw many interesting things, but nothing he deemed useful enough to augment Gunner's already high power.

Of course, Darius wasn't expecting to find some growth type items or even legendary ones in here. He also wasn't expecting to find items like the ones Foldo had kept after years of smuggling and managing a black market.

Speaking of the black market, that was also a viable option and he planned to go there later.

However, he first wanted to observe the goods on display in a 'legal' shop. In truth, nothing here so far really stood out to Darius.

Seeing that the first floor was filled with common items, Darius and Gunner climbed up one floor. Immediately, the crowd thinned out not only because the guards here were higher in quantity and quality, but because the items here were much more expensive, almost three times those below.

However, the jump in quality intrigued Darius. He was astounded by some of the items and their stats, but most of them were useless to him and Gunner.

Darius did see a few spears with remarkable abilities, but he wasn't here to outfit himself. His eyes were roaming the displays, looking for anything suitable for Gunner first, before himself next.

Seeing as the first floor was also devoid of anything that could make him open his purse, Darius climbed up the last floor to the top. On the second floor, the presence was basically scarce, with only 4 people looking around.

There were over 30 guards, all of them Journeymen too. Darius Analyzed the buyers here and found that three were Adepts while one was a Journeymen on the verge of becoming an Adept.

When they saw him, many had looks of astonishment as they felt the tendrils of Mind Power from Darius. Nodding in respect and greeting, Darius also bowed to greet them back.

Acting aloof towards someone who was showing respect to you despite being more powerful was possibly the stupidest thing to do and would win you no favors. Reciprocating respect or showing it first though, would 8 times out of 10 yields you a positive first impression.

Darius looked around and noticed that the cheapest item here, a necklace that boosted movement speed by 30%, was priced at 378 Silver Ando Coins. That was almost half the price of a gold coin, and Darius noted that some items here were priced in gold!

Some even in the tens of gold! However, when he checked their effects, he nodded in agreement. They deserved their prices, for the abilities they bestowed on buyers would augment their power greatly, or give them a second chance at life.

Darius looked around and found what he was looking for. There were a pair of gauntlets in a pristine glass case, another pair of boots that seemed to be part of a leather armor set, and a golden spear with a small blade at the tip.

Darius Analyzed all three items, but their prices also sobered his enthusiasm. If he were to pay out of pocket, he certainly would have a hard time affording it even with his wealth.